Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 12 (3) ISSN: 1545-679X May 2014 The Influence of Typeface on Students’ Perceptions of Online Instructors Michelle O’Brien Louch [email protected] Duquesne University Elizabeth Stork [email protected] Robert Morris University Abstract At its base, advertising is the process of using visual images and words to attract and convince consumers that a certain product has certain attributes. The same effect exists in electronic communication, strongly so in online courses where most if not all interaction between instructor and student is in writing. Arguably, if consumers make certain assumptions about a product based on the typeface used on a package, then online students are poised to do the same when they read emails from an online instructor. This pilot study looked at the specific medium of e-mail and how an e- mail’s recipient (student) might transfer his or her perceptions of attributes of three typefaces to attributes of the sender (instructor) of the email. One was a commonly used typeface, and the other two were selected for their dramatic differences from the common typeface. The findings revealed that the participants’ opinions of the sender were highly influenced by the typeface used. In the arena of online education, attention should be given to typeface selection in instructors’ emails to students. Keywords: Typeface, Online Education, Email, Communication, Font, Teacher-student Interaction 1. INTRODUCTION a page simplifies and ultimately limits the message. Readers “design multiple Consider the act of reading body language. One interconnections” between what they see and watches and listens, giving meaning to both the what they read (Lemke, 2009, p. 300), meaning words spoken and the movements that that the image of the words and how they accompany them. Now consider email. One can function on a page, or the visual rhetoric, only absorb what is on the page. There is no increases in importance when one communicates opportunity for body language; there is only the with an unseen other, as is usually the case in appearance of the text to accompany the online education. meaning of the words. In the typical online post-secondary classroom Written communication represents not only our setting, the instructor and student communicate spoken language but also the emotions and electronically, and with the exception of the use intentions, or the tone, of the message. While of audio or video when available, all of this written words are images that we sometimes communication is written. This electronically- dismiss, preferring to focus on the message’s mediated setting shifts the student’s content, they hold degrees of meaning going communication experience to the visual, forcing beyond a word’s denotation or connotation. him or her to comprehend not only the literal Reducing reading to simply looking at words on message but also construe meaning from the ©2014 EDSIG (Education Special Interest Group of the AITP) Page 30 www.aitp-edsig.org /www.isedj.org Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 12 (3) ISSN: 1545-679X May 2014 visual rhetoric of the text itself. As a result, mature, formal, elegant, youthful, and casual online students “get to know” their professors when testing perceptions about them (2006, p. through the visual image of the electronic text 1). They noted that typefaces with both serifs before them. and an even baseline, such as Times New Roman and Georgia, connote stability and 2. TYPEFACE formality. According to Bernard, Mills, Peterson, and Storrer’s 2001 study, these fonts are Typeface, or font, not only conveys the words typically found in business documents with intended but also carries a message of its own Times New Roman being one of the most (Henderson, Geise, & Cote, 2004). Studies popular. Fonts without an even baseline, such consistently show that the visual aspect of a as Comics Sans and Kristen ITC, are called word influences the way that the receiver scripts and tend to be considered casual and processes it. As early as 1923, Poffenberger youthful. Additionally, according to Henderson and Franken determined that fonts have an et al. (2004), natural script typefaces that “atmosphere,” or an air, of the following resemble handwriting are re-assuring to the qualities: “cheapness, dignity, femininity, reader (e.g. Bradley Hand ITC and Freestyle antiquity, nature, and elegance” (p. 314) and Script). concluded that the sender of a message was best served if he or she matched the typeface to In 2003, Brumberger conducted two studies on the readers’ expectations of the product. For whether typeface and text had distinct example, one would advertise luxury items using personalities in readers’ eyes. She determined an elegant calligraphic typeface, while for that people “consistently ascribe particular durable goods would use a no-nonsense, simple personality attributes” to both typeface and font. A typeface’s “atmosphere” refers texts (2003a, p. 213). Brumberger’s study specifically to the “capacity of a typestyle to revealed that readers recognize whether a connote meaning over and above… [what] is typeface is appropriate for a certain situation as linguistically conveyed by words” (Lewis & well as that some typefaces are considered “all- Walker, 1989, p. 243). In short, visual purpose,” which she theorized may be because aesthetics influence a receiver’s comprehension they are seen regularly enough to have become and judgment of the message (Bloch, Brunel, & “generic” (2003b, p. 227). Arnold, 2003; Lewis & Walker, 1989). Given that individuals perceive consistent Mackiewicz’s (2005) analysis of fifteen typefaces’ meanings to typographical features letterforms found that typefaces consistently (Brumberger, 2003a; Poffenberger & Franken, regarded as professional contained similar 1923), any incongruence between the words’ elements, such as straight-edged ending strokes appearance and meaning will affect the reader’s balanced by teardrop lobes (which soften the ability to process the meaning of the message. sharper edges), horizontal crossbars on e’s, Readers consistently employ prior experience serifs, and letters resting on an even baseline. with visual cues of words, e.g. boldface, color, She also noted that typefaces with imperfections size, and typeface or font, to determine the are typically perceived as friendly. These message’s full meaning and emphasis of the “imperfections” consist of broken construction, message (Kostelnick, 1989). Poor visual such as when the loops of the g or a bowl on the images can influence students to interpret an a, are not completely closed. Typeface online instructor’s message differently than the imperfections also include rounded ending instructor intended, ultimately impacting strokes, slanted crossbars on the e’s, and an communication within the course and attitudes uneven baseline where letterforms either dip about the instructor. Effective communication below or sit above (Mackiewicz, 2005). between participants is vital for effective performance in any online culture (Clark & Gibb, 3. ONLINE LEARNING 2006). As noted, the receiver constructs meaning when Typeface Personas presented with written electronic communication. How this meaning is Because typefaces are “credited with creating constructed influences the success or the failure first impressions,” Shaikh, Chaparro, and Fox of that particular communication (Geisler et al., sought to determine whether online fonts have 2001). The level of trust that the receiver has in consistently ascribed personas such as stable, ©2014 EDSIG (Education Special Interest Group of the AITP) Page 31 www.aitp-edsig.org /www.isedj.org Information Systems Education Journal (ISEDJ) 12 (3) ISSN: 1545-679X May 2014 the sender affects how successful the 575. The other two schools were four-year communication is (Smith, 2008), and that trust private universities, one with about 4,000 is influenced by structure (Dirks & Ferrin, 2001). students, the other with nearly 5,000 students. Structure, in this situation, is defined not only as All three institutions are in the same city in the the formal guidelines within which one operates, Mid-Atlantic. but also is the sense of knowing what to expect from interactions. The sample consisted of 22 females and 30 males (N=52) between the ages of 18 and 48. The instructor’s communications are vital in Ten participants (19%) were students in developing that interpersonal structure because accredited allied health programs at the career his or her behavior greatly determines the college. Forty-two participants (81%) were student’s perception of the course and instructor students in the four-year universities, primarily and influences academic success. The role of in core curriculum courses. Twenty-five the online instructor is little different from an different majors were reported by the instructor in a face-to-face classroom in that participants. there are expectations regarding content delivery and classroom control, though the Instrument online classroom places more responsibility on the student and expects a higher level of self- A web-based survey was designed to gather the direction and motivation. As found by Finn, participants’ perceptions about three typefaces Schrodt, Witt, et al. in 2009, a strong (typeface persona) in an email and their relationship exists between students’ perceptions of the sender using the three perceptions of an instructor and student typefaces (sender persona) in an email. The learning. Part of this perception comes